Live: Nurse who died after Kate hoax call was from India

Former Congress leader Narhari Amin, who recently crossed over to BJP only days before the Gujarat Assembly elections, has alleged that senior leaders of the faction-ridden Opposition subverted ticket distribution process for elections, which prompted party cadres to defect.

The former deputy chief minister backed his decision to quit Congress by saying, "It is improper that senior leaders of Congress like me were kept in the dark in ticket allocation. I felt insulted and decided to join BJP."

7. 10 pm

Only God can save us from defeat: Sehwag

Observing that "only god can save" India from a humiliating defeat against England in the ongoing third Test match at the Eden Gardens, India opener Virender Sehwag Saturday blamed the batsmen for the team's dismal performance.

"Wicket is not that bad for us to lose six wickets in a session. We are still fighting and hopefully something happens tomorrow so we can save the Test. Only god can help us," the destructive batsman said after India capitulated to 239/9 managing a slender lead of 32 runs.

India after doing well in the morning session lost six wickets for just 59 runs in the post lunch double hour.

6. 30 pm

Nurse who died after Kate hoax call was from India

British police say that a nurse who was found dead days after she took a hoax call about the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was originally from India.

Scotland Yard said on Saturday that 46-year-old Jacintha Saldanha, who was found dead on Friday, had lived in Bristol in southwestern England for nine years.

Saldanha worked at the London hospital where Prince William's wife, Kate, was being treated for acute morning sickness. The nurse was duped by a prank call performed by two Australian DJs, who pretended to be Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles to ask about Kate's condition.

Police didn't release a cause of death, but said they didn't find anything suspicious. A coroner will make a determination on the cause next week, police said.

5. 35 pm

Youth arrested for uploading objectionable picture on Facebook

A 20-year-old youth was arrested here on charge of uploading an objectionable picture on Facebook, police said on Saturday.

Pintu Sahu was taken to custody by Brahmanitarang police on Friday for posting an objectionable picture in his Facebook account, they said.

The picture showed "Lord Hanuman sitting atop a mosque" and the picture was posted on December 6, the day the Babri mosque was demolished, they said. 4.15 pm:

BJP vs BSY: Karnataka minister sacked, MP suspended

The BJP government in Karnataka on Saturday struck at supporters of former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa by sacking cooperation minister BJ Puttaswamy and suspending Lok Sabha member G Basavaraj from the party.

The decision was announced by chief minister Jagadish Shettar and state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief KS Eshwarappa.

Eshwarappa said steps were being taken to get Basavaraj suspended from the Lok Sabha too.

The action comes a day ahead of Yeddyurappa launching his own outfit, Karnataka Janata Party, on Sunday. He had quit the BJP on November 30.

3.45 pm:

Tata denies using strong words against govt

Tata Sons today denied that group Chairman Ratan Tata has used words such as "venal" business environment or accused the government of "inaction" in media interviews.

"Tata Sons clarifies that in Mr. Ratan N Tata's interview with (a leading British financial) daily, he spoke about coherence in implementation of government policy rather than "lashes into the PM", "rapping India", "warning government of inaction" or "venal business environment", as has been reported in the daily and other media," said a statement from Tata Sons.

"These are terms used by the publications and not not by Mr. Tata in any manner," it said.

"Tata Sons is surprised that reputed media entities have sensationalised the observations, without taking into cognisance the tone, tenor and context of the interview," the statement said.

3.35 pm:

Cauvery bandh total in Mandya district

Vehicular traffic on the Bangalore-Mysore road was paralysed and normal life affected due to a bandh call given today by an outfit of farmers, spearheading protests in this Cauvery heartland district to protest release of water to Tamil Nadu.

All shops and business houses across the district remained closed expressing solidarity with the stir called by Mandya District Hitharakshana Samithi to protest the Cauvery Monitoring Committee and Supreme Court directive to Karnataka to release water.

Holding that UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi had crossed a number of road-blocks "tactfully", DMK President M Karunanidhi today said the "nation looks up" to her to provide a secular and stable government at the Centre.

"As Chairperson of the UPA, you have been crossing a number of road-blocks tactfully and facing many hurdles successfully... the nation looks up to you only, at this critical phase, to provide a secular and stable Government at the Centre," he said in his birthday greetings to the leader, who turns 67 tomorrow.

In a brutal case of honour killing, a youth severed his younger sister's head publicly in South 24 Parganas district after suspecting that she was having an extra marital affair with a rickshaw puller, police said today.

With the severed head of his sister, Nilofer Biwi in his hand, 29-year-old Mehtab Alam walked into Nadial police station and surrendered along with the sword yesterday.

The real agenda behind Israel's assault last month on Hamas' munitions stockpiles and smuggling tunnels was to eliminate as many as 100 Iranian-built Fajr5 missiles, with the power to reach Tel Aviv, that had been sneaked into Gaza through Egypt, intelligence experts have said.

According to Jonathan Schanzer, a former counter-terrorism analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the real agenda behind Israel's war on Hamas was not simply to end the daily barrage of relatively primitive rockets that have become part of Jewish daily life.

He says the Obama administration knew in advance of the operation and agreed that the missiles, built in a Sudanese factory, had to be neutralized to protect millions of Israeli citizens who were now within range of the deadly Iranian weapons, CNN reports.

Indian hockey team's hope for a final berth was dashed as they lost to four-time defending champions Australia 0-3 in the semifinal of the Champions Trophy on Saturday in Melbourne.

The team will now meet arch-rival Pakistan for the bronze medal.

12.12 pm:

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that the move to bring in FDI in retail was supported by farmer organisations. He added that he is confident that FDI in retail benefit farmers and consumers.

11.30 am:

'Vishwaroopam audio launched' in style

Exactly a month after Kamal Haasan’s birthday (November 7th), the audio of his Vishwaroopam took place on December 7th across three prominent cities of Tamil Nadu – Madurai, Coimbatore and Chennai simultaneously.

Kamal has managed to keep his word and release the album in style. The actor completed a hectic three city tour in one day, releasing the audio in Madurai, Coimbatore and finally culminated with a Chennai launch in the evening.

India is the 94th 'most corrupt country' in the world for doing businesses, a new survey has revealed.

According to the 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index, created by Transparency International, India was ranked 94th, a step up from last year's ranking, while Russia was 133rd, 10 places higher than 2011.

The survey showed Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden and Singapore topping the list as the 'cleanest countries' to do business in the world, CNN reports.

The GMR Infrastructure -led consortium managing the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport project in Maldives would lose Rs 1,200 crore in revenues a year, with the island nation cancelling the operations contract.

The company reported Rs 1,200 crore in revenue from Male airport in 2011-12. This was a sixth of the Rs 7,600-crore revenue GMR reported the last financial year.

A Singapore court had ordered GMR Infrastructure to vacate the airport by midnight on Friday, after the Maldivian government scrapped the contract of the Bangalore-based company to run the airport.Read more

9.20 am:

Egypt delays early voting on new constitution

Egypt postponed early voting on a contentious draft constitution, and aides to President Mohammed Morsi floated the possibility of canceling the whole referendum in the first signs Friday that the Islamic leader is finally yielding to days of protests and deadly street clashes.

Tens of thousands marched on the presidential palace after pushing past barbed wire fences installed by the army and calling for Morsi to step down. Thousands also camped out in Tahrir Square, birthplace of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

A spokesman for Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood urged the group's supporters to practice "self-restraint" after hundreds gathered in front of a mosque near the presidential palace. He appealed for them not to march to the palace and to avoid confrontation.Read more

8.40 am:

PSY apologizes for anti-US protests

South Korean rapper and Internet sensation PSY is apologizing to Americans for participating in anti-U.S. protests several years ago.

Park Jae-sang, who performs as PSY, issued a statement Friday after reports surfaced that he had participated in concerts protesting the U.S. military presence in South Korea during the early stages of the Iraq war.

At a 2004 concert, the "Gangnam Style" rapper performs a song with lyrics about killing "Yankees" who have been torturing Iraqi captives and their families "slowly and painfully." During a 2002 concert, he smashed a model of a U.S. tank on stage.Read more

8.00 am:

​McAfee better, hopes to stay in Guatemala, says lawyer

A lawyer for software company founder John McAfee said Friday that the self-styled fugitive is feeling better after suffering chest pain and that he has filed three separate legal appeals in hopes his client can stay in Guatemala, where his political asylum request was rejected.

Attorney Telesforo Guerra told reporters outside the detention center where McAfee is being held that the creator of the McAfee antivirus program is in good health.

Guerra said he filed an appeal for a judge to make sure McAfee's physical integrity is protected, an appeal against the asylum denial and a petition with immigration officials to allow his client to stay in this Central American country indefinitely.